WARNING: There are graphic pictures of the cat's injuries contained within this article

A FAMILY have spoken of their horror and heartbreak after their beloved pet cat came home with her front paws chopped off – injuries so severe she had to be put down.

Abbie Dix, of Tolladine in Worcester, and her mother Vivienne Jones found four-year-old Ginge with both paws severed at the wrist on Friday night.

Vivienne told the Worcester News: “Her one paw was completely sheared off. It was a clean cut. The other was cut off but was still hanging. It was almost like someone had tried pulling it off.

“Abbie could hear a clunking sound and realised it was the sound of bone hitting the floor (as Ginge tried to walk in the kitchen). She started screaming and crying.

“This was the most horrific thing we have gone through.”

The family took Ginge to VetsNow, the out of hours emergency clinic for Worcester, immediately after finding her in such an awful state on Friday evening.

Mum-of-three Vivienne said: “It all happened so quickly. The vets gave her morphine to stop the pain – they told us they couldn’t do anything to save her.

“She lost so much blood they couldn’t inject her, so they had to inject into her kidney to kill her. This was probably a slower death for her.”

Ginge had belonged to Abbie, 21, since she was a kitten.

Abbie said that, at around 10pm on Friday, she opened the backdoor after hearing a noise and found Ginge sitting on the lawn with her dad, Smudge, who lives two doors down. He had suffered with a leg injury following the abuse.

Vivienne said: “I feel distraught. It’s been awful. My daughter has had her since she was 16. She has been balling her eyes out. It’s hit her more than anybody else. She was the one that found Ginge in that state.

“Ginge came into the house and that’s when my daughter discovered the horror.”

The following day the family followed the trail of blood from outside the house, before it “just stopped.”

Vivienne, 42, said: “There was blood everywhere. It must have been somewhere local or nearby else she would have bled out.

“It’s been a horrific ordeal.”

The family brought Ginge home and buried her in their garden. However, the next day they recovered her body to take photos of the injuries, before burying her again.

They’re appealing for more information to find out what happened to their much-loved cat.

Vivienne said she has “a horrible feeling” this is an ongoing occurrence in Worcester.

“If anyone knows anything about cats being attacked, I want them to contact me," she said.

“I’ll do everything in my power to find out what happened. I’ve seen a few messages about missing pets. I need to find out what happened – something is going on. People need to be more vigilant and made aware that this has happened.

“I still can’t believe she managed to get home, the poor thing.”

She added: “Whoever did this should be ashamed of themselves.

“It’s like losing a child. This cat meant the world to my daughter. She has been left devastated.

“Ginge was such a beautiful and loving cat.”

The family said they will be reporting the incident to the police.